The Sunday News
Ngonidzashe Chiutsi Farming Correspondent
MATABELELAND South and Midlands provinces have reported new cases of the contagious Foot and Mouth Disease, a latest update has revealed, although Government has insisted that the disease was now under control. Latest minutes of a meeting held last week under the auspices of Matabeleland FMD taskforce showed that in Matabeleland South new cases were reported in Gwanda and Beitbridge while in the Midlands province all the eight districts were now red after new cases were reported in previous green zones.
According to the minutes, in possession of Sunday Farming, Matabeleland South provincial principal veterinary officer Dr Enat Mdlongwa noted that illegal movement of cattle had resulted in the diseases spreading to new areas that were previously diseases free.
“In Gwanda district we have new infections at Dwala area, Ladi Farm, Mkashi Farm and Jani farms,” said Dr Mdlongwa during the meeting.
He said the challenge was that they had not been vaccinating those areas within the required period of four months.
“Another worrying area is Beitbridge. Last time we said there was infection around the Joko resettlement area in Beitbridge but that infection has spread to Jam farm, River ranch and Maramani. We reported that Beitbridge district has active cattle in Beitbridge East but that infection has since spread to Beitbridge West. The district has been put under quarantine,” said Dr Mdlongwa.
He added that the department has since banned the movement of cattle in affected areas.
“In Beitbridge district there is no movement of animals in or out and cattle sales have since been cancelled because of the infection. Our teams are on the ground to investigate where the infection came from,” he said.
“That barrier that we created with Matabeleland North is still standing and no infection has been seen and we have only allowed animals to go for direct slaughter in Matopo South,” he said adding that Matopo North was however, under quarantine.
“Mangwe and Bulilima district still remain our clean areas and we have not heard of any infection but the whole of Umzingwane is under quarantine and we are not allowing cattle to move in and out of the area,” said Dr Mdlongwa.
The report also showed that the situation in Midlands province was seemingly getting out of control and as at 17 August, all eight districts had been affected by FMD.
“In Gokwe North and South, the infection is still spreading to the North threatening Mashonaland West,” said the report.
The authorities are reportedly planning to put a 20 kilometre barrier around Chirisa National Park.
The report noted that in Kwekwe, FMD infection was reported three weeks ago due to illegal movements from Gokwe by farmers resettled in the area.
“In Gweru, new FMD outbreaks (were) recorded in Somabhula commercial farms Pendar and Annandale farms due to illegal movements linked to Derbyshan ranch in Mat South,” read part of the report.
It added that doses to control the disease were not adequate to cater for outbreaks hence the department has identified priority areas namely Somabhula in Gweru, Gokwe North and Gokwe South for vaccination.
“Gweru CC Sales opened for direct slaughter sale and Gweru Show Ground Sale opened for breeding and weaner sale. In Mvuma, FMD buffer vaccination zone still intact but smouldering FMD infections still persist. Shurugwi, Mberengwa and Zvishavane are still under quarantine but cattle can only be moved after thorough pre-movement inspections,” said the report.
However, the report noted that the situation in Matabeleland North was manageable.
Matabeleland North Chief Animal Health inspector Mr Ndumiso Bhebe told the meeting that they were making progress in controlling the FMD and the department has reopened some cattle sales in the province that were previously shut down.
“After our second vaccination, we have reopened West Acre. We also had infection at Reigate Farm and we are happy to say the infection at Reigate is not spreading out of that farm. Unfortunately the infection at Reigate Farm had led to the closure of Mvutshwa abattoir which we have reopened,” said Mr Bhebe.
He said they had reopened Turk Mine cattle sales after putting the disease under control around that area.
“We have also reopened Turk Mine sales and so far we are getting an average of about 200 head per sale. We have reopened the area between Bulawayo and towards Turk Mine. That area has been under quarantine but we have reopened the area and is now free and no infection has been detected. Cattle in that area can now go to Turk Mine sales,” he said.
“We had a scare at Hope Fountain where we had about three cases and vaccinated about 800 animals and we also vaccinated the whole of Douglasdale as a precautionary measure. Ntabazintuna, West Acre and Wollandale are free to go to direct slaughter.”
Mr Bhebe said there were still places that have been closed due to the infection.
“The places that remain closed are Reigate farm, Douglasdale, Mapani Farm, Ndubiwa, Woodvale, Hope Fountain and Gumtree,” said Mr Bebhe.
Matabeleland South provincial veterinary officer Dr Mbuso Moyo said lack of barriers to limit the movement of cattle was hampering progress to arrest the challenge.
“We wish we could have physical barriers on the ground but that is not possible and that’s why we always face this challenge. It’s difficult to limit the movement of cattle especially in view of the dry season. We have water sources that are apart and generally animals would want to move from one source to another,” said Dr Moyo.
Zimbabwe is battling with an outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease which was recorded in Matabeleland South, Midlands and Masvingo in April this year.
The outbreak has affected the abattoirs business where cattle sales at livestock markets have been banned.
The Government has reportedly disbursed $1,5 million towards the control of FMD.
It has also facilitated the importation of 750 000 doses from the neighbouring Botswana. Government has also insisted that it has done all it can to ensure that the disease does not spread and affect the beef industry.
